Pickaway County Fair

The Pickaway County Fair is a great time for the entire family! Enjoy a variety of grandstand events such as: Demolition Derby, Truck & Tractor Pulls, Motorcross, & Harness Racing. Spend all day on the amusement rides, looking at the various displays, and watching our local youth show off their hard work.

Slate Run Metro Park Living Historical Farm

The Slate Run Living Historical Farm is one of the most culturally significant sites in central Ohio. At this farm rural agricultural life as it was in the 1880s can be found. The buildings, machinery, livestock, plants, and crops are typical of those found on farms one hundred years ago.

Slate Run brings together the many elements that make Ohio so beautiful. Everything from wooded, rolling hills and steep ridges to wetlands and farmed areas can be found here.

The Metro Park’s beauty can best be experienced by hiking on one of the nature trails. Sugar Maple Trail winds through ravines and ridgetops that were formed from Berea sandstone wearing away to reveal the shale underneath. Five Oaks Trail is named for the five species of oak trees that can be seen while walking on the trail. A variety of wildflowers, animals, birds, and fishes are also observed when hiking through this park. For More information on the park write to:

Ted Lewis Museum

133 W. Main St., Box 492
Circleville, OH 43113
Phone: (740) 477-3630

Circleville’s most famous son, Ted Lewis, for which the city park is named for, is remembered in the Ted Lewis Museum. Ted Lewis had one of the very first recognized jazz bands and for whom many other well known musicians including: Beeny Goodman, Fats Waller, the Dorseys, got their start.

The museum is housed in the only remaining building from the original town circle and has a small theater which runs early TV and movie clips recalling the jazz entertainer’s popularity. Memorabilia like his clarinet, old top hat and sheet music, ‘When My Baby Smiles at Me,’ are found here organizing his career and hometown roots.

Ohio’s Small Town Museum

34 Long St.
Ashville, OH 43103
740-983-9864

A one-of-a kind museum that will warm the heart and stimulate the mind is what can be found in the small community of Ashville. This museum has been nationally recognized on the Oprah Winfrey Show, in the book, New Roadside America, and by the Sunday New York Times.

The Musuem has a display which tells about the silver nuggets unearthed at the Snake Den Mounds and gives information about famous writers, inventors, politicians, entertainers, and the not-so-famous who once lived in this railroad boom town.

The Musuem is open to the public free of charge all year from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Call the museum at 740-983-9864 to arrange a tour or leave a message.

Clarke May Museum, The Clarke-May House

162 W. Union St.
Circleville, OH 43113
(740) 474-1495

This museum is full of interesting local history including Indian and Pioneer Artifacts, Pickaway County Memorabilia and Prints of Nests and Eggs of Ohio Birds by the Jones Family. It is home to the Pickaway County Historical and has a large meeting room incorporated in the old family kitchen. Hours are Tuesdays through Fridays from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. or other times by appointment.

Mount Oval Historical Farmhouse

3601 Emerson Road
Circleville, OH 43113

Mount Oval, a Pickaway County Historic Landmark, was built in 1832 by William and Jane Boggs Renick. T he name stems from its construction on an oval shaped knoll on the Pickaway Plains south of Circleville, Ohio along the old Scioto Trail, which is now US Route 23. In the Archives of Early American Architecture at the Library of Congress in Washington, D. C., Mount Oval is recognized among the early homes of Ohio for its unique design, excellent craftsmanship and beauty of detail.

Pickaway County Murals

Pumpkin Show Mural
Located in the heart of downtown Circleville, this outstanding three-dimensional mural was commissioned to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the Circleville Pumpkin Show. Corner of Court and Main Street, Downtown Circleville.
Created by Circleville native, Eric Henn

Bicentennial Mural
A mural created on West Main Street in downtown Circleville to celebrate the bicentennial of Circleville and Pickaway County in 2010. 150 W. Main St, Downtown Circleville
Created by Circleville native, Eric Henn

Ohio Erie Canal

To get to Canal Park, take US 22 west out of Circleville, go about one mile beyond the Scioto River bridge to the traffic light (SR 56 RJ), turn left onto Canal Road. The Park’s entrance is about one half mile south on Canal Road. The Park’s shelter house, hiking trails, and grounds are free for public use on a first come basis. To reserve the shelter house call the PCPD Office 740-420-5454. The Tow Path hiking trail on the canal levee runs south from the shelter house area for about 2.5 miles. One can fish and boat in the Scioto River and fish in the canal along Canal Road. Park rules and other information are posted on the bulletin board and signs at the Park’s entrance.

The Pickaway County Historical & Genealogical Society aquired a 2.5 mile long section of the Ohio Erie Canal in 1999. Located in Wayne township along Canal Road, it stretches from the old Penn Central Railroad right-of-way south to the Scioto River access maintained by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, near where the old village of Westfall once flourished. The canal is maintained as an historical, educational, and recreational are open to the public.

Construction on the Ohio Erie Canal was begun in 1825. The Canal reached Circleville in 1831 and by 1835 linked the interior of the state with Lake Erie on the North and the Ohio River on the South. This gave the Ohio farmer and merchant access to the markets on the East Coast, a great boom to the economy of the state’s interior. The Canal cost $4,695,000 and was 333 miles from Portsmouth to Cleveland. The trip by canal boat took about 80 hours. It was slow, but one horse could pull a canal boat laden with freight that would require several wagons and 30 horses to pull over land.

The coming of the railroad about the middle of the 19th century was the beginning of the end of the Canal Era in Ohio, but the canal was in use until 1913. The aqueduct at Circleville which carried canal boats across the Scioto River was the longest on the canal. There were 152 locks along the route.

The Historical & Genealogical Society and many volunteers have spent countless hours cleaning up the old canal and developing the Canal Park, located on Canal Road. Kayaking and canoeing are just some of the many activities you can find along the canal. For more information please contact the Pickaway County Historical Society at (740) 474-1495 or visit online.

Pickaway County Historical and Genealogical Library

Although every attempt has been made to ensure the information included in this guide is accurate, the Pickaway County Visitors Bureau is not responsible for any changes in dates, times, locations, and fees. Please call ahead before traveling.